Entrustment in physician-patient communication: a modified Delphi study using the EPA approach.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Background
Competency based curricula across the globe stress on the importance of effective physician patient communication. A variety of courses have been used to train physicians for this purpose. However, few of them link competencies with practice resulting in confusions in implementation and assessment. This issue can be resolved by treating certain specific patient communication related tasks as acts of entrustment or entrustable professional activities (EPAs). In this study, we aimed to define a competency-based framework for assessing patient physician communication using the language of EPAs.Methods
A modified Delphi study was conducted in three stages. The first stage was an extensive literature review to identify and elaborate communication related tasks which could be treated as EPAs. The second stage was content validation by medical education experts for clarity and representativeness. The third stage was three iterative rounds of modified Delphi with predefined consensus levels. The McNemar test was used to check response stability in the Delphi Rounds.Results
Expert consensus resulted in development of 4 specific EPAs focused on physician-patient communication with their competencies and respective assessment strategies all aiming for level 5 of unsupervised practice. These include Providing information to the patient or their family about diagnosis or prognosis; Breaking Bad news to the patient or their family; Counseling a patient regarding their disease or illness; Resolving conflicts with patients or their families.Conclusions
The EPAs for Physician-patient communication are a step toward an integrative, all-inclusive competency-based assessment framework for patient-centered care. They are meant to improve the quality of physician patient interaction by standardizing communication as a decision of entrustment. The EPAs can be linked to competency frameworks around the world and provide a useful assessment framework for effective training in patient communication. They can be integrated into any post graduate curriculum and can also serve as a self-assessment tool for postgraduate training programs across the globe to improve their patient communication curricula.
SUBMITTER: Younas A
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8454034 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Similar Datasets
Project description:Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP), a disabling disorder of progressive heterotopic ossification (HEO), is caused by heterozygous gain-of- function mutations in Activin receptor A, type I (ACVR1, also known as ALK2), a bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) type I receptor. Presently, symptomatic management is possible, but no definitive treatments are available. Although extensive guidelines for symptomatic management are widely used, regional preferences exist. In order to understand if there was worldwide consensus among clinicians treating FOP patients, an expert panel of physicians directly involved in FOP patient care was convened. Using a modified Delphi method, broad international consensus was reached on four main topics: diagnosis, prevention of flare-ups, patient and family-centered care and general clinical management issues. This study of physician preferences provides a basis for standardization of clinical management for FOP.
| S-EPMC5468985 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThis evaluation sought to determine current Charcot neuroarthropathy (CN) diabetes patient education practices among Scottish National Health Service (NHS) and academic podiatrists and evaluate novel visual tools and develop expert consensus for future practice.MethodsQuestionnaires collected mixed qualitative and quantitative responses, analysed concurrently within a convergence coding matrix. Delphi methodology permitted member-checking and agreement of consensus over two rounds.ResultsFourteen participants (16.28%) completed a Round One questionnaire, leading to the generation of four themes; Experience; Person-Centred Care and the Content and Context of CN patient education. Seven consensus statements were subsequently developed and six achieved over 80% agreement among 16 participants (18.60%) with a Round Two questionnaire. Respondents agreed CN patient education should be considered for all 'At-risk' individuals with diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). Verbal metaphors, including the 'rocker-bottom' foot, soft or brittle bones, collapsing, walking on honeycomb and a shattering lightbulb were frequently employed. Visual tools, including visual metaphors and The Charcot Foot Thermometer, were positively evaluated and made available online.ConclusionsKey findings included respondent's belief that CN education should be considered for all individuals with DPN and the frequent use of simile, analogy and metaphor in CN education. The concept of 'remission' proved controversial due to its potential for misinterpretation.
| S-EPMC6154915 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Although previous studies suggest an association between provider burnout and suboptimal self-reported communication, no studies relate physician burnout to observed patient-physician communication behaviors.To investigate the relationship between physician burnout and observed patient-physician communication outcomes in patient-physician encounters.Longitudinal study of enrollment data from a trial of interventions to improve patient adherence to hypertension treatment.Fifteen urban community-based clinics in Baltimore, MD.Forty physicians and 235 of their adult hypertensive patients, with oversampling of ethnic minorities and poor persons. Fifty-three percent of physicians were women, and the average practice experience was 11.2 years. Among the 235 patients, 66% were women, 60% were African-American, and 90% were insured.Audiotape analysis of communication during outpatient encounters (one per patient) using the Roter Interaction Analysis System and patients' ratings of satisfaction with and trust and confidence in the physician.The median time between the physician burnout assessment and the patient encounter was 15.1 months (range 5.6-30). Multivariate analyses revealed no significant differences in physician communication based on physician burnout. However, compared with patients of low-burnout physicians, patients of high-burnout physicians gave twice as many negative rapport-building statements (incident risk ratio 2.06, 95% CI 1.58-2.86, p < 0.001). Physician burnout was not significantly associated with physician or patient affect, patient-centeredness, verbal dominance, or length of the encounter. Physician burnout was also not significantly associated with patients' ratings of their satisfaction, confidence, or trust.Physician burnout was not associated with physician communication behaviors nor with most measures of patient-centered communication. However, patients engaged in more rapport-building behaviors. These findings suggest a complex relationship between physician burnout and patient-physician communication, which should be investigated and linked to patient outcomes in future research.
| S-EPMC2533387 | biostudies-other
Project description:BackgroundExcellent communication is a necessary component of high-quality health care. We aimed to determine whether a training module could improve patients' perceptions of physician communication behaviors, as measured by change over time in domains of patient experience scores related to physician communication.Study designWe designed a comprehensive physician-training module focused on improving specific "etiquette-based" physician communication skills through standardized simulations and physician coaching with structured feedback. We employed a quasi-experimental pre-post design, with an intervention group consisting of internal medicine hospitalists and residents and a control group consisting of surgeons. The outcome was percent "always" scores for questions related to patients' perceptions of physician communication using the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey and a Non-HCAHPS Physician-Specific Patient Experience Survey (NHPPES) administered to patients cared for by hospitalists.ResultsA total of 128 physicians participated in the simulation. Responses from 5020 patients were analyzed using HCAHPS survey data and 1990 patients using NHPPES survey data. The intercept shift, or the degree of change from pre-intervention percent "always" responses, for the HCAHPS questions of doctors "treating patients with courtesy" "explaining things in a way patients could understand," and "overall teamwork" showed no significant differences between surgical control and hospitalist intervention patients. Adjusted NHPPES percent excellent survey results increased significantly post-intervention for the questions of specified individual doctors "keeping patient informed" (adjusted intercept shift 9.9% P = 0.019), "overall teamwork" (adjusted intercept shift 11%, P = 0.037), and "using words the patient could understand" (adjusted intercept shift 14.8%, p = 0.001).ConclusionA simulation based physician communication coaching method focused on specific "etiquette-based" communication behaviors through a deliberate practice framework was not associated with significantly improved HCAHPS physician communication patient experience scores. Further research could reveal ways that this model affects patients' perceptions of physician communication relating to specific physicians or behaviors.
| S-EPMC5497987 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Despite the documented benefits of colorectal cancer screening, patient participation rates remain low. Physician recommendation has been identified as a significant predictor of screening completion.The aim of this study is to investigate how primary care physicians perceive colorectal cancer screening communication tasks, as well as to explore the form and content of actual screening discussions.The research design includes a mailed physician survey and a separate observational study in a sample of videotaped medical encounters. PARTICIPANTS AND DATA SOURCES: The participants were 270 primary care physicians who completed a mailed questionnaire (57.9% response rate) and 18 physician-patient encounters that included discussions of colorectal cancer screening.The questionnaire focused on perceived importance and accomplishment of communication tasks relevant to colorectal cancer screening. Two of the authors reviewed transcripts of videotaped physician encounters to determine whether the same communication tasks assessed in the survey were accomplished. Interrater reliability was high across all of the mutually exclusive coding categories (Kappa > .90).Physicians rated colonoscopy as the most important screening option to discuss; self-reports indicate that colonoscopy (84.8%) is more frequently mentioned than fecal occult blood test (FOBT; 49.4%), flexible sigmoidoscopy (34.1%), or computed tomography (CT) imaging (18.1%). Explaining benefits and risks, describing test procedure and frequency, eliciting patient preferences, and making a plan for screening were all viewed as very important. Self-reported accomplishment of these communication tasks was considerably higher than that observed in our separate videotape sample.Most physicians recognize and espouse the importance of recommending colorectal cancer screening to eligible patients. However, findings from both the physician survey and observational study suggest that physicians tend to overestimate the extent of discussions about screening. Interventions may be warranted to improve clinical practice.
| S-EPMC2219805 | biostudies-other
Project description:IntroductionOveractive bladder (OAB) and urinary incontinence are common problems that have significant impact on quality of life (QOL). Less than half of sufferers seek help from their physicians; many who do are dissatisfied with treatment and their physicians' understanding of their problems. Little is known about the sociolinguistic characteristics of physician-patient communication about OAB in community practice.MethodsAn IRB-approved observational sociolinguistic study of dialogues between patients with OAB and treating physicians was conducted. Study design included semi-structured post-visit interviews, post-visit questionnaires, and follow-up phone calls. Conversations were analyzed using techniques from interactional sociolinguistics.ResultsCommunication was physician- rather than patient-centered. Physicians spoke the majority of words and 83% of questions were closed-ended. The impact of OAB on QOL and concerns about and adherence to treatment were infrequently addressed by physicians, who were poorly aligned with patients in their understanding. These topics were addressed more frequently when open-ended questions successfully eliciting elaborated responses were used in ask-tell-ask or ask-tell sequences.DiscussionClinical dialogue around OAB is physician-centered; topics critical to managing OAB are infrequently and inadequately addressed. The use of patient-centered communication is correlated with more discussion of critical topics, and thus, more effective management of OAB.
| S-EPMC5687746 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Importance:Current practice to diagnose idiopathic orbital inflammation (IOI) is inconsistent, leading to frequent misdiagnosis of other orbital entities, including cancer. By specifying criteria, diagnosis of orbital inflammation will be improved. Objective:To define a set of criteria specific for the diagnosis of IOI. Design, Setting, and Participants:A 3-round modified Delphi process with an expert panel was conducted from June 8, 2015, to January 25, 2016. Fifty-three orbital scientist experts, identified through membership in the Orbital Society, were invited to participate in on online survey and they scored, using 5-point Likert scales, items that are eligible as diagnostic criteria from the literature and from personal experience. The items were clustered around the anatomic subtypes of IOI: idiopathic dacryoadenitis and idiopathic orbital fat inflammation (2 nonmyositic IOIs), and idiopathic orbital myositis (myositic IOI). Items with dissensus were rescored in the second round, and all items with consensus (median, ?4; interquartile range, ?1) were ranked by importance in the third round. Main Outcomes and Measures:Consensus on items to be included in the criteria. Results:Of the 53 experts invited to participate, a multinational panel of 35 (66%) individuals with a mean (SD) years of experience of 31 (11) years were included. Consensus was achieved on 7 of 14 clinical and radiologic items and 5 of 7 pathologic items related to diagnosis of nonmyositic IOI, and 11 of 14 clinical and radiologic items and 1 of 5 pathologic items for myositic IOI. There was agreement among panelists to focus on surgical tissue biopsy results in the diagnosis of nonmyositic IOI and on a trial with systemic corticosteroids in myositic IOI. Panelists agreed that a maximum number of 30 IgG4-positive plasma cells per high-power field in the orbital tissue is compatible with the diagnosis of IOI. Conclusions and Relevance:An international panel of experts endorsed consensus diagnostic criteria of IOI. These criteria define a level of exclusion suggested for diagnosis and include tissue biopsy for lesions not confined to the extraocular muscles. This consensus is a step toward developing guidelines for the management of IOI, which needs to be followed by validation studies of the criteria.
| S-EPMC5710199 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundEffective communication with health care providers has been found as relevant for physical and psychological health outcomes as well as the patients' adherence. However, the validity of the findings depends on the quality of the applied measures. This study aimed to provide an overview of measures of physician-patient communication and to evaluate the methodological quality of psychometric studies and the quality of psychometric properties of the identified measures.MethodsA systematic review was performed to identify psychometrically tested instruments which measure physician-patient communication. The search strategy included three databases (EMBASE, PsycINFO, PubMed), reference and citation tracking and personal knowledge. Studies that report the psychometric properties of physician-patient communication measures were included. Two independent raters assessed the methodological quality of the selected studies with the COSMIN (COnsensus based Standards for the selection of health status Measurement INtruments) checklist. The quality of psychometric properties was evaluated with the quality criteria of Terwee and colleagues.ResultsData of 25 studies on 20 measures of physician-patient communication were extracted, mainly from primary care samples in Europe and the USA. Included studies reported a median of 3 out of the nine COSMIN criteria. Scores for internal consistency and content validity were mainly fair or poor. Reliability and structural validity were rated mainly of fair quality. Hypothesis testing scored mostly poor. The quality of psychometric properties of measures evaluated with Terwee et al.'s criteria was rated mainly intermediate or positive.DiscussionThis systematic review identified a number of measures of physician-patient communication. However, further psychometric evaluation of the measures is strongly recommended. The application of quality criteria like the COSMIN checklist could improve the methodological quality of psychometric property studies as well as the comparability of the studies' results.
| S-EPMC4273948 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Recent empirical findings document the role of nonverbal communication in cross-cultural interactions. As ethnic minority health disparities in the United States continue to persist, physician competence in this area is important. We examine physicians' abilities to decode nonverbal emotions across cultures, our hypothesis being that there is a relationship between physicians' skill in this area and their patients' satisfaction and outcomes. First part tested Caucasian and South Asian physicians' cross-cultural emotional recognition ability. Physicians completed a fully balanced forced multiple-choice test of decoding accuracy judging emotions based on facial expressions and vocal tones. In the second part, patients reported on satisfaction and health outcomes with their physicians using a survey. Scores from the patient survey were correlated with scores from the physician decoding accuracy test. Physicians, regardless of their ethnicity, were more accurate at rating Caucasian faces and vocal tones. South Asian physicians were no better at decoding the facial expressions or vocal tones of South Asian patients, who were also less likely to be satisfied with the quality of care provided by their physicians and to adhere to their physicians' recommendations. Implications include the development of cultural sensitivity training programs in medical schools, continuing medical education and public health programs.
| S-EPMC3389700 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundIn China, the utilization of medical resources is tense, and most hospitals are highly congested because of the large population and uneven distribution of medical resources. Online health communities (OHCs) play an important role in alleviating hospital congestions, thereby improving the utilization of medical resources and relieving medical resource shortages. OHCs have positive effects on physician-patient relationships and health outcomes. Moreover, as one of the main ways for patients to seek health-related information in OHCs, physician-patient communication may affect patient compliance in various ways. In consideration of the inevitable development of OHCs, although they have several shortcomings, identifying how physician-patient communication can impact patient compliance is important to improve patients' health outcomes through OHCs.ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate the impact of physician-patient communication on patient compliance in OHCs through the mediation of the perceived quality of internet health information, decision-making preference, and physician-patient concordance, using an empirical study based on the self-determination theory.MethodsA research model was established, including 1 independent variable (physician-patient communication), 3 mediators (perceived quality of internet health information, decision-making preference, and physician-patient concordance), 1 dependent variable (patient compliance), and 4 control variables (age, gender, living area, and education level). Furthermore, a Web-based survey involving 423 valid responses was conducted in China to collect data, and structural equation modeling and partial least squares were adopted to analyze data and test the hypotheses.ResultsThe questionnaire response rate was 79.2% (487/615) and the validity rate was 86.9% (423/487); reliability and validity are acceptable. The communication between physicians and patients in OHCs positively affects patient compliance through the mediation of the perceived quality of internet health information, decision-making preference, and physician-patient concordance. Moreover, physician-patient communication exhibits similar impacts on the perceived quality of internet health information, decision-making preference, and physician-patient concordance. Patients' decision-making preference shows the weakest impact on patient compliance compared with the other 2 mediators. Ultimately, all 3 mediators play a partially mediating role between physician-patient communication and patient compliance.ConclusionsWe conclude that physician-patient communication in OHCs exhibits a positive impact on patient compliance; thus, patient compliance can be improved by guiding physician-patient communication in OHCs. Furthermore, our findings suggest that physicians can share high-quality health information with patients, discuss benefits, risks, and costs of treatment options with patients, encourage patients to express their attitudes and participate in health-related decision making, and strengthen the emotional connection with patients in OHCs, thereby decreasing patients' misunderstanding of information and increasing concordance between physicians and patients. OHCs are required to not only strengthen the management of their published health information quality but also understand users' actual attitudes toward information quality and then try to reduce the gap between the perceived and actual quality of information.
| S-EPMC6535977 | biostudies-literature